Gevorg Hakobyan, Armen Hovhannisyan, Mher Martikyan, Armen Tadevosyan and Taron Grigoryan from Gyumri, members of Aratta Band, will be supported with the travel grant to visit Istanbul, for holding a number of concerts and visiting some schools to conduct open lessons on Armenian music for school children.

Օne of their concerts will take place on Friday, February 24th at Kumbara Kafe (Katip Mustafa Çelebi, Küçük Parmakkapı Sk. No:9, 34433 Beyoğlu).

The band was founded in 2013 by Armen Hovhannisyan, the guitarist of the Band. The Band has a unique style by underlining the motives of ethnic Armenian music spiced with elements of various genres. The Band also authors several pieces.

On September 13, 2018, Urban Foundation for Sustainable Development (UFSD) hosted a workshop on “Exchange of Best Practices in Plastic Waste Management between Armenia- and Turkey-based CSOs and Practitioners.” The workshop is part of a project that contributes to the development of cooperation between environmentalists, waste management practitioners, businesses and local authorities of Armenia and Turkey through sharing best practices in plastic waste management. The grantee, Urban Foundation for Sustainable Development in partnership with the Union of Diyarbakir Young Businessmen organized a 1-day workshop in Diyarbakir with participation of 20 representatives of local authorities, plastic waste management practitioners, environmental CSOs, businesses in the field of plastic waste separation and recycling from Armenia and Turkey. The workshop was followed by a study visit to Plastic Waste Recycling Plant in Diyarbakir, as well as a follow-up exchange workshop in Yerevan. Based on the results of the study visit and workshops UFSD will produce a booklet on the best practices of plastic waste management in Armenia and Turkey. The project will result in an increased awareness of stakeholders of the plastic waste management practiced on the other side of the border, as well as will provide an opportunity for networking between practitioners and businesses focusing on plastic waste management. Representatives of local authorities may consider replicating the best practices in plastic waste management in their own communities.

This activity took place within the framework of the Sub-grants Scheme implemented by Eurasia Partnership Foundation as part of the “Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalization Process” programme, funded by the European Union and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.